Kyle Hines filed his latest blog entry on Thursday night - just after completing a 32-point performance with 14-for-16 shooting from the floor to help UNCG beat College of Charleston, 88-71.

Since I last left you, we really needed to get a win at Elon. Over the years, we have created a very intense rivalry with them (they are just a few miles up the road from us). Saturday was no different. We really struggled out the gate both offensively and defensively. It wasn't until the 8:25 mark of the first half that someone other thea I scored when Davor Garlic got to the line and hit a free throw.

Elon played tough defense and hit some open shots to go up by nine at halftime. During halftime, Coach Dement really got on us and challenged us to step up our game on the defensive end. (We hadn't played well defensively in our two losses the week before and we weren't off to a good start again.)

I guess his halftime speech really worked because the second half was a completely different story on both ends of the floor. We started the half on a run, holding them without a basket for nearly five minutes to start the second half. We really got after it defensively, causing three five-second violations, forcing numerous turnovers and making it difficult for Elon to get open shots. Everyone played really well in that second half, but I would have to say the stars of the game were Kevin Oleksiak and Ben Stywall. KO was able to penetrate the defense and find Ben for numerous lay-ups during the second half and get our offense back on track.

The win put us back in the race for the North Division title and positioned us back to get a first-round bye in the conference tournament. It also gave the senior class a .500 record in our career at Elon. It definitely felt good to walk out of Elon for the last time with a win.

The win also marked the 93rd victory for Coach Dement, which made him the all-time winningest coach in UNCG history. This is a great accomplishment and very well deserved. I guess it is only right that the original architect of the program (he was our first Division I coach before coming back a few years ago) be the winningest coach in the program history. (He's been saying that I've had nothing good to say about him in my blog, so there we go.)

The weather in Greensboro has been really cold this week. It reminded me a lot of the weather back home. It even snowed two times over the past weekend. I have always been amazed how people down south treat the snow compared to people up north. It only snowed two inches and it almost shut the whole town down. If it snowed like that up north, people would go about their day like nothing happened. I can remember going to school when there was almost a foot of snow on the ground and this past week our university postponed classes with less than an inch on the ground. I'm not complaining at all, I just find the contrast between winters in the north and the south to be very amusing.

Also during the week, the senior class (Dwayne Johnson, KO and I) went over to our assistant coach's house (Brian Judski) for a home-cooked meal. We all didn't know what to expect from this meal. I must say that Coach Judski did pretty well. We ate salad, garlic bread and a great-tasting lasagna. I must say that the meal was far past our expectations and would be very open to joining him for another dinner anytime he is willing to cook again. (Hint, hint.)

This past Wednesday, we traveled to Charleston, SC to play the last leg of our 5-game road trip. On Thursday, we played a very talented College of Charleston team. We ended up winning the game by 17 points, giving us another big road win and putting us in better position in the conference.

We all played really well, setting a school record for field-goal percentage. I'm a firm believer that if we play together as a team, as we did tonight, that we can play with any team in the country. The win also marked the first time in UNCG history that we have won at the John Kresse Arena (C of C's home court) and was one of their worst home losses ever. (For those that don't know, they've won something like 80 or 85 percent of their home games over the years.) With them opening up a new arena next season, it felt good to close out our last time playing in that building by getting a win and ending our losing streak.

Another interesting wrinkle from the game was my opportunity to meet the owner of Trademark Properties, Richard Davis, and his investment coordinator Ginger Alexander after the game. I guess most people don't know that I'm heavily interested in real estate and inspired to start my own investment real estate company. I almost religiously watch this show on A&E called "Flip This House." The show showcases different investors as they fix and flip properties for profit. One of the companies that is often shown is Richard's Trademark Properties. (I think he went to Clemson with Coach Judski.) It felt kind of weird to see someone that I've grown to be a fan of on television every week, sitting behind our bench watching our game cheering for us.

The final game of our road trip is against a young and talented Citadel team. (They were featured on ESPN.com this week for being so young - 13 freshmen!) The first time we played them at home, we handled them pretty easily. But I don't expect the same type of game as when we played them the first time. Every time we play at The Citadel, it has been a very tough and hard-fought game. The atmosphere is always tough down here because the cadets are right there in your ear. We don't expect it to be any different for this upcoming game. But as I said before, if we play as a team together, I'm confident that we can win the game.

Well, it's getting pretty late and I'm getting tired. (I played 39 minutes tonight, so I hope you understand.) Thank you to everyone that has continued to support us during this season. Wish us luck on Saturday.

Until Next Time..........

Kyle Hines #42